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Plato and the Mythic Tradition in Political Thought / Tae-Yeoun Keum.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2020]Copyright date: ©2020Description: 1 online resource (288 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780674984646
  • 9780674250185
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 184 23
LOC classification:
  • B395 .K43 2020
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Introduction: Plato’s Legacy and the Problem of Myth in Political Thought -- PART ONE. POLITICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL BOUNDARIES -- 1 Nature and Myth in Plato’s Republic -- 2 The Utopian Founding Myths of More and Bacon -- 3 An Enlightenment Fable: Leibniz and the Boundaries of Reason -- PART TWO. MYTH AND MODERNITY -- 4 The New Mythology of German Idealism -- 5 The Demon of the City: Cassirer on Myth and Plato -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index
Summary: An ambitious reinterpretation and defense of Plato’s basic enterprise and influence, arguing that the power of his myths was central to the founding of philosophical rationalism.Plato’s use of myths—the Myth of Metals, the Myth of Er—sits uneasily with his canonical reputation as the inventor of rational philosophy. Since the Enlightenment, interpreters like Hegel have sought to resolve this tension by treating Plato’s myths as mere regrettable embellishments, irrelevant to his main enterprise. Others, such as Karl Popper, have railed against the deceptive power of myth, concluding that a tradition built on Platonic foundations can be neither rational nor desirable.Tae-Yeoun Keum challenges the premise underlying both of these positions. She argues that myth is neither irrelevant nor inimical to the ideal of rational progress. She tracks the influence of Plato’s dialogues through the early modern period and on to the twentieth century, showing how pivotal figures in the history of political thought—More, Bacon, Leibniz, the German Idealists, Cassirer, and others—have been inspired by Plato’s mythmaking. She finds that Plato’s followers perennially raised the possibility that there is a vital role for myth in rational political thinking.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780674250185

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Introduction: Plato’s Legacy and the Problem of Myth in Political Thought -- PART ONE. POLITICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL BOUNDARIES -- 1 Nature and Myth in Plato’s Republic -- 2 The Utopian Founding Myths of More and Bacon -- 3 An Enlightenment Fable: Leibniz and the Boundaries of Reason -- PART TWO. MYTH AND MODERNITY -- 4 The New Mythology of German Idealism -- 5 The Demon of the City: Cassirer on Myth and Plato -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index

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An ambitious reinterpretation and defense of Plato’s basic enterprise and influence, arguing that the power of his myths was central to the founding of philosophical rationalism.Plato’s use of myths—the Myth of Metals, the Myth of Er—sits uneasily with his canonical reputation as the inventor of rational philosophy. Since the Enlightenment, interpreters like Hegel have sought to resolve this tension by treating Plato’s myths as mere regrettable embellishments, irrelevant to his main enterprise. Others, such as Karl Popper, have railed against the deceptive power of myth, concluding that a tradition built on Platonic foundations can be neither rational nor desirable.Tae-Yeoun Keum challenges the premise underlying both of these positions. She argues that myth is neither irrelevant nor inimical to the ideal of rational progress. She tracks the influence of Plato’s dialogues through the early modern period and on to the twentieth century, showing how pivotal figures in the history of political thought—More, Bacon, Leibniz, the German Idealists, Cassirer, and others—have been inspired by Plato’s mythmaking. She finds that Plato’s followers perennially raised the possibility that there is a vital role for myth in rational political thinking.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Mai 2023)